Typical Life of American Wife of the late 1800s: An Analysis of Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Maria Michael

doi:10.24113/ijellh.v9i5.11076

Abstract

The life of the typical American women in the late 1800s was strictly confined to the four walls of a house. For a wife, marriage, husband and family were the destiny. She had no legal political right or voice in public sphere. They were not supposed to involve in any intellectual pursuits but only in domestic chores like cooking, sewing, cleaning etc. The condition of women in any class (upper, lower or middle) was more or less same. Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin were noted American writers of nineteenth century. Both writers outrageously expressed their strong views on women, marriage and sex. They were revolutionaries of their time. This paper is going to analyse how Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” depict typical public expectations about marriage and women of late 1800s. It also distinguishes the representation of women and wife in the nineteenth century patriarchal American society.

Highlights

In the 1800s, women usually stayed at home
His wife’s money and all her things belonged to him too! Women’s popular literature of that period was full of advice about and encouragement for proper housekeeping. These advices say women are destined to keep the house clean, nurture their children and take care of their husband. During this century a very few writers like Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman came with their radical literary expressions
Kate Chopin began writing fiction in 1889 and her short stories and essays enriched with the themes of love, independence, passion and freedom of women

Summary

Introduction

In the 1800s, women usually stayed at home. They cleaned the house and cooked and sewed. Kate Chopin began writing fiction in 1889 and her short stories and essays enriched with the themes of love, independence, passion and freedom of women. As the title suggests it the story of an hour and the story show the things happened in the life of Louise Mallard within one hour.

Results

Conclusion